POTATOES AND OTHER STARCHY ROOTS AS POOD. 11 



able to a large proportion of protein to starch. If the protein is suf- 

 ficiently abundant it will harden in cooking to form a sort of waxy 

 framework in which the starch will be lightly held together instead 

 of separating into distinct flakes as in mealy potatoes, in which there 

 is not enough protein present to resist the pressure of the starch. 

 Such waxy potatoes retain their shape better than the mealy ones 

 and are more suitable for garnishing meats, for salad making, and 

 for the preparation of many fancy dishes. As has been shown, the 

 proportion of protein to starch is greater in young than in mature 

 tubers, and therefore, in American potatoes at least, the early varie- 

 ties are most likely to have this waxiness. In point of flavor there is 

 almost as much difference as in consistency; the nitrogenous tubers 

 usually contain a larger proportion of acids, and perhaps also of 

 sugars and solanin (see p. 13), than do the starchy ones. 



POTATO PRODUCTS. 



The chief article manufactured from potatoes is starch, which is 

 used for laundry purposes, for sizing paper and textiles, and for 

 other technical purposes; it also finds many uses in cookery, though 

 not so generally now as before cornstarch became common. One of 

 the good qualities of potato starch is that a relatively short time is 

 required to cook it thoroughly, and so gravies, etc., can be quickly 

 made with it and yet not have a raw taste. 



Potato starch is sometimes marketed under the trade name of 

 potato flour, particularly that of foreign make. The term is also 

 applied to a different kind of product fairly well known in some 

 European countries, which is made by grinding dried potatoes. Such 

 a product is also called potato meal, which is perhaps a more distinc- 

 tive name for it. A somewhat similar preparation is known as potato 

 flakes. Both of these are much used in certain parts of Europe in 

 bread making, particularly when wheat flour is scarce. Plain boiled 

 and mashed potato may be used for the same purpose. The best re- 

 sults are obtained when not more than one-third of the flour is re- 

 placed by potato meal or flakes. The recipes commonly call for not 

 more than one part of the latter to three parts of flour. Such potato 

 bread is more mcist than ordinary wheat or rye bread, the potato 

 starch holding more water than that from the cereals. Similar mix- 

 tures of potato and flour are often used for pancakes, batter cakes, 

 etc., and sometimes a kind of batter cake or similar dish is made from 

 potato without flour. Many cooks think that ordinary wheat bread 

 and rolls are lighter if the yeast is started with potato before the 

 flour is mixed in, which would indicate that the potato supplies the 

 yeast with better food for its growth than does the flour. 



